


6:00 am & Sleepless

by MarsInOrbit (orphan_account)



Series: Rose [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Comfort, Conditioning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmare, Past Abuse, Pet whump, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:40:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27762385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/MarsInOrbit
Summary: She struggled to push off the blanket, it was one of the weighted ones that Keith had let her use. It was too much, all of it too heavy and it ached. It was crushing down on her too-fast heart and too-new rules and memories too-vague and raw to decipher.Or Rose has a rough time.
Relationships: Rose & Natasha
Series: Rose [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2030890
Kudos: 3





	6:00 am & Sleepless

**Author's Note:**

> TW for pet whump, kind of. 
> 
> Apologies for weird formatting, I have .. very little experience writing on this website, only reading haha.

It’s too late for this, or too early maybe. Everything shakes with the force of Rose’s sobs, hands pressed tight over her mouth in an attempt to muffle them. The sun’s just rising, it peeks out from the trunks of the trees lining Keith’s backyard. They’d be mad, they were going to be so mad - she couldn’t stop. The ache dug deep, crawling into her veins and sending her blood running boiling-hot.

She struggled to push off the blanket, it was one of the weighted ones that Keith had let her use. It was too much, all of it too heavy and it ached. It was crushing down on her too-fast heart and too-new rules and memories too-vague and raw to decipher.

She fumbled with the blanket until she fell off the couch and onto the floor, slamming her head against the coffee table. Rose cried harder, she was being punished, wasn’t she? _Bad pet._ Her head pounded louder, she dropped to the floor. Her forehead pressed against the wood, she tried to focus on the cold. She’d never been this bad at Sir’s, only at the beginning.

Keith was so nice, too nice to her. She’d tricked him somehow into thinking she was a person, he wouldn’t listen - he wouldn’t listen to her begging and trying to be good. He was so gentle, so soft, so unlike Sir. She could almost trick herself into believing him.

At least with Sir she knew how to behave, she had rules. She could be safe - everything was too turbulent with Keith. Deciphering what was good for him and bad was intense work. She was selfish, she should just be a good pet and stop complaining. This was why Sir always had to punish her, she thought too much, too dumb to think anything important.

She pressed her check into the floor, curling up there as her crying choked her up. Her tears blurred her vision, she was too tired to try and blink them away. It was too much. 

The door to the living room creaked open. Rose shot up from the floor, scrambling away. They were going to be mad, she woke them up - 

Natasha rushed in, dressed in a robe, t-shirt, and shorts, her hair was tucked into a bonnet. She looked around before spotting Rose. Rose squealed and practically threw herself backwards. Natasha sped towards her.

“Are you injured? Are you okay?” she crouched down next to Rose. She shook her head - she didn’t pull away, good pets don’t pull away.

“I-I’m sorry,” her voice came out raspy, barely a whisper, “I didn’t mean to wake you up, I’m sorry.”

“That’s… no, are you hurt?” Natasha repeated the question, eyebrows furrowed. 

“I’m fine, sorry,” Natasha was more unpredictable. Never told her any rules, just stared on blankly when Keith talked to her. She didn’t know what was ‘good’ for her. No one likes a loud pet. “Please - please make it quick.”

“Make what quick?” Natasha moved forward, examining Rose with a critical eye. She put a hand towards her forehead, Rose tensed but didn’t flinch. She brushed away her red hair, frowning when she saw the smear of blood from when she hit her head. “You said you weren’t hurt.”

 _Bad, bad pet!_ “It’s fine,” her heart beat even faster, “I’m fine, sorry for distur-disturbing you.”

“Why did you lie?” she murmured, she forced Rose’s hair backwards to see the mark better.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I’ll be better, pl-please. I’m sorry. I’ll behave, please.”

“Hm?” Natasha looked up, her dark eyes widened for a moment, “Oh - I’m not upset with you. I’m just worried, this looks like it hurts.”

It did. Now that she was focusing on it, even more. But she’d had worse. And she deserved it, for being a bad pet. This was a good thing, it was something familiar. And now Natasha was lying, she was clearly upset, she was mad. 

“I’m sorry,” she said yet again. 

Natasha stood up, “Get up, I want to look at it in the light.” Maybe if she was tired, she’d accept it as enough punishment for crying so loudly and waking her up. Natasha began to walk towards the door. Rose shot up, almost falling as she ran after her. 

Natasha walked into the bathroom leading off from the living room. She clicked the switch and yellow-warm light filled the room. The bathroom was cluttered, five toothbrushes in the cup by the sink despite only three people residing in the home, the various hair soaps, and makeup lining shelves and draws. Rose stared for a moment, she usually used the bathroom upstairs.

Natasha flopped the bathroom seat down and patted it, “Sit down.”

Rose rushed over, sitting down on the seat. She kept her eyes facing down, wanting to be respectful. The bathroom was small, maybe that’d be worse. There was less room to move, to breathe. The sink could be stopped, maybe Natasha would use that. Fill it up with water and force her head in like Sir had done in the beginning when she was still new; still too foolish and unaware to obey. 

Natasha opened the medicine drawer utop the sink, it was as cluttered as the bathroom. She held some bottles from falling and pulled out a tiny first-aid kit. She slammed the medicine drawer shut to prevent anything from falling. Rose flinched. 

She dug through it, pulling out a cotton swab and a bottle. She dabbed the bottle’s contents onto the swab then placed the kit down. Leaning forward, she dabbed at the half-dried blood on Rose’s forehead. She kept herself tense. It stung a bit. The injury must’ve not been enough if Natasha was trying to clean it. Rose grabbed onto her shirt, calm down. It’d be worse if she yelled.

“That’s it, I think,” she took a step back, throwing the swab into a trash can forced into the corner. She put out an open hand, “Come on, let’s get you back to bed.”

“Will I be punished in the morning?” she whispered, she wasn’t really supposed to ask questions in the first place. Natasha’s face fell, she’d messed up. It was going to hurt worse, why was she so stupid? “I’m so-sorry. Sorry.”

Natasha sighed deeply. Rose messed up even worse now, if that was possible.

Her eyes welled up with tears. “I’m sorry.”

Natasha shook her head, “Bed,” she repeated, as if speaking to a petulant child. Rose stood up, keeping her blurry eyes focused on the tiles and not on Natasha. She was mad, why couldn’t she just be a good pet. Why was it so hard to be good lately? 

She followed her out of the bathroom, the lights shut off with a click. It left them in the dark, sunlight slowly falling through the semi-opened curtains. It partitioned the shadows, leaving dimn fractals of light across the room.

Natasha picked up the blanket, setting it back on the couch. “There’s still a couple hours left till’ morning, get some rest.” She patted the couch. Rose rushed over, sitting down.

“I’m sorry for waking you up,” she pulled her knees up and hugged them, “And - pushing off the blanket and being loud and getting hurt and -”

“Please stop,” Natasha interrupted, “It’s fine.”

 _Bad pet._ Rose didn’t respond this time. Natasha sat next to her. 

“Does your head still hurt?’ she rubbed at her eyes, “You were crying pretty hard earlier, I was scared you broke a bone.”

“I’m sorry,” she fiddled with her fingers. “My head is fine, I was um, I wasn’t crying because of it.”

“What happened?” Natasha asked.

“A nightmare,” Keith hadn’t mentioned rules on nightmares, neither had Sir. She’d never get them when she was with him. Maybe it was a sign, that she had to go back. There was no back, though. Sir was… gone, the apartment was sold and she was three states away.

She missed it so deeply, despite all the pain it was familiar. She could be good, there, could be safe if she just followed the rules. Sir would always oblige by them as well, he was so /i> kind to her, wasn’t he?

He was. _He was._

“Ah, those are crappy,” Natasha said. Rose snapped up, she wasn’t mad? “You want to talk about it?”

She hated those questions, they were so hard to figure out at first. _Bad, she was just lazy and unintelligent._ Usually when they asked that, they were asking her to do something. But Natasha sounded so tired, not eager at all. Maybe it was a trick? Was she supposed to say no?

“Whatever you want,” she mumbled, recalling a phrase.

Natasha shook her head, “No - do you want to talk about it? It isn’t about me.”

“Sorry, I can talk about it, if that makes you happy,” why couldn’t she get just one thing right? Rose sniffled. If she repeated it, she must want it. “I was in the closet and Sir came in. In the um, in the nightmare.”

“In the closet? Was that why you were scared?”

She shook her head, “The closet is nice,” she met Natasha’s eyes briefly then looked back down, “Then Sir came in and he was mad. And he kept yelling at me and I couldn’t breathe and I was scared and -” Rose sucked in a breath, her heart-rate was speeding rapidly higher.

Natashsa put a hand on her arm, Rose tensed up. This was it, wasn’t it? She wasn’t supposed to talk, she must’ve gotten the question wrong. _Stupid._

“I won’t hurt you,” Natasha pulled her hand away, “Sorry. For touching you.”

“Sorry?” Rose questioned.

She waved her hand, “No, no you’ve done nothing wrong.” Rose didn’t correct her misunderstanding. She stared intently at her pants, not sure how to please Natasha.

“I guess it’s too late to go back to sleep, huh?” she leaned back, letting her neck lean across the top of the couch. “Must be around five or so.” Rose was still exhausted, she couldn’t stand the thought of another nightmare, though. She nodded. “For me at least, you should rest.” She patted the pillow on the couch. “Come on, lay down.”

“What if I get um, what if I get scared again?” she asked, “I don’t want to bother anyone.”

“You won’t be, lay down,” she said. Rose did as such, her red hair splayed across the cold pillow and her check. Natasha frowned slightly at her, she reached out towards Rose’s face - _what did she do wrong_ \- and brushed away her hair. She pulled the remaining strands from under her chin. “There,” she whispered, her fingers lingering for a moment on Rose’s check, “Sorry,” she pulled away, “You don’t like being touched.”

“I don’t?” Rose questioned, the response slipping out without much thought.

Her eyebrows furrowed, “Do you?”

“Um,” Rose wasn’t sure how to answer this one, “Whatever you want, I can do.”

Natasha looked up, letting out a short breath then met her eyes again, “I didn’t ask what I wanted, I asked what you did.”

“I’m not allowed wants,” she whispered. “I’m not - people are allowed wants. Only if you’re a person.”

“Everyone has wants, doesn’t matter if you’re a person or…” Natasha paused, “Everyone has them.”

“I’m not supposed to show them,” she whispered.

“What if I say you can?” Natasha asked. “Then would you be able to?”

That was against the rules, why did both of them insist so strongly on going against the rules? She sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. She swallowed back the bile rising in her throat, “I don’t know.”

Natasha thought for a moment then reached forward again, she cupped Rose’s face in her hand. Rose tensed first then pushed into her hand, whining softly. Her eyelids fell. Natasha rubbed her thumb across her check, watching her intently. 

“Is this good for you?” she asked.

Rose didn’t respond, trying to savor the feeling of someone else's touch. One that wasn’t to punish her. If she behaved, Sir would run his hands through her hair, sometimes hold her face as Natasha was. 

Natasha let go, Rose leaned into the space where her hand had been. She whined softly.

“Hold on,” she laughed slightly, squeezing into the space between where Rose had sat up and where the pillow was.

“Sorry.”

“Shhh,” she wrapped an arm around Rose, pulling her close. Rose melted into her, gasping softly. Natasha rubbed her arm. 

Rose tilted towards her, “Thank you,” she murmured. She had to have done something incredibly good to deserve this, she couldn’t decipher what. “What did I do to earn this?” she mumbled.

“To earn it?” 

“Mhm,” she relaxed more, her drowsiness fogging her brain. 

“It’s not something to be earned,” Natasha whispered, “It’s just… if you want us to hug you, you can just ask.”

“I’m not allowed wants,” she said, “I have to earn it.”

“Okay,” Natasha pulled her close, “If that’s what you say.”

“Am I wrong?” her voice cracked slightly.

“You’re okay,” Natasha said, “I don’t want to - never mind. Get some sleep, okay?”

“‘Kay,” she shut her eyes, cuddling close to Natasha.

“Oh not here - I, sure,” she laughed softly. “Sleep well.”

Natasha was less scary up close, kind of the opposite of Sir. And so lenient, _rewarding_ her even when she messed up. The last time she’d gotten something this good was when Sir had to leave her in the closet for two weeks straight. When he let her out, he let her sleep in his bed, holding her while she slept. 

God, she hoped it wasn’t a trick. It probably was, no one would act like this. But it felt so nice, maybe it was okay to give in. She wasn’t going to get anything like this, it’d be worth the pain. Just to be held like this.

Rose gave into her sleep-deprived mind, letting unconscious take her in the arms of someone who felt safe, if only temporary.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, to the hopefully at least two people who read this - hope you liked it! Please tell me in the comments if you did. this is orphaned bc i deleted my acc but my tumblr is lave-whump


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